In a first aspect, the invention is concerned with a stud fastener. Stud fasteners are useful in many applications. They can be used, for example, to close doors, being attached to a door frame and adapted to receive a stud on a door. A stud fastener can be used in many other applications. In a second aspect, the invention is concerned with a stabilising device, especially for (but not limited to) a fastening assembly which uses shape memory alloy wires. The stabilising device can operate to reduce the stress on the shape memory alloy wires.
Australian Provisional Patent Application No. 2004905399 (the “Provisional Application”), the contents of which are imported herein by reference, disclosed a fastener including:                a stud having a locking cavity;        an aperture adapted to receive the stud;        locking means adapted to engage the locking cavity; and        a shuttle rotatable by rotating means including material adapted to contract when activated, the shuttle being rotatable by the rotating means between a locking position, in which the locking means engages the locking cavity, and an unlocking position in which the locking means does not engage the locking cavity.        
One embodiment of the fastener was described in the Provisional Application and this is an especially preferred embodiment. A second embodiment was described in connection with international patent application number PCT/AU2004/000623, the contents of which are also imported herein by reference. For convenience, some of the features of the first embodiment are set out below.